Category Archives: Uncategorized

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RELAX: You Are Not Alone… So Create Magic

I’ve said it before- My journey as a writer hasn’t quite gone as planned. I still remember the day my first short story went up on Amazon. I was so sure that the price incentive of .99 cents would be the thing that launched me up on the sales rank. Imagine my surprise when it barely moved. I was devastated. I was hurt. I thought- Seriously, I worked this hard on a 6,500-word short story and I’m not even going to break even…? What the heck…?

Did I quit…? No, I pressed on and wrote the novella My Friend Louie. I was so certain this little YA Horror Story would be the hit. Again, nothing happened… I asked myself a million questions. I could not understand what I was doing wrong. I remember sitting on my patio and just shaking my head. I felt God was leading me to write, to be a storyteller, to create with Him. However, I was not experiencing success on the level I wanted to.

That is when it hit me- I defined my career according to my terms and not God’s terms.

So, for two years I did a few things.

  • Studied the craft.
  • Made friends and connected with others in the industry
  • Practiced, Practiced, Practiced…

Those two stories are still up there for sale (But I have come so much further).

The point is. I have banged my head against the wall a hundred times. I have tossed in the towel every day. I have quit- Only to come back and bang away at the keys instead.

Maybe it’s my nature. I mean- I’ve gone from being a high school drop out to being a VP in a Marketing Firm. Maybe I don’t know how to quit. Maybe because on some level I know one day I’ll make a decent break through.

Maybe, Maybe, Maybe- Maybe I’ve realized that creating stories is the only thing I’m any good at.

Yes, I give up. Yes, I stare at a blank page and cuss the blinking cursor. Yes, at times I feel it is pointless. Yes, I feel disrespected. Yes, I feel my genre is laughed upon and underrepresented. Yes, I feel most publishers do not know jack about marketing. Yes, I have wanted to give up… Guess what- So has every other creative type I know.

We write because we are called. We write because it is who we are.

Remember- We create a special magic when we become one with the page, and the words, they are the wands…

So keep writing. Never look back. Someone, somewhere, needs to hear your story.

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French Press Coffee: One Secret to Surviving Fatherhood

french press coffee

A great cup of French Press Coffee is one of my secrets to surviving Fatherhood. Let’s face it- Being a father is tough, especially after you’ve worked all day and come home to discover the kids are bouncing off the walls.

Like it or not- Men need an out from time to time. Kids are a blast: But after watching an endless loop of Veggie Tales, or listening to a child cry when you’ve said: “No, you’ve had enough snacks tonight…” There are times you just need to sit and catch your breath.

I have a ton of secrets. I read my Bible, pray, talk to my wife, read a novel, watch Arrow or Flash, but most times- It’s just sipping a nice cup of French Press Coffee.

So here are my steps to making a great cup of Joe.

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I like Speciality Beans from a local roaster. My wife (being a Chef and involved in the Food Service industry: Check out her site- www.planprepcook.com) always goes to great lengths to ensure I am fully stocked on the beans I need. I use beans from two different companies EOTE Coffee and Hoboken Coffee.  Check them out- They are both great.

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As you can see in the screen shot above, I weigh my beans out (for a single cup) to 15 Grams.

Then I measure out 240 Grams (or 8.5 Ounces) of Purified Water. This gives me roughly a 1 to 16 ratio in my coffee.

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When I grind my beans I always set it to be a Coarse grind. So I recommend a Burr Grinder and finding one that is both timed and has a coarse grind setting. After you’ve ground your beans, drop them into you French Press Pitcher. Be sure your pitcher is cleaned and dry before using.

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Heat your water to roughly 200 to 205 degrees. And then pour over your grinds. Some people like to pour in just enough to soak the grinds for about 30 seconds. Doing this helps some of the gasses escape. Others just pour it in all at once. (Which is what I do.) I also stir it for a few seconds to make sure the grinds aren’t all settled in one spot. Then I wait 4 minutes, press, then pour into one of my Geeky Mugs I have available.

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Now this is the way I do it currently, and I am by no means an expert. So if you have tips or tricks you would like to share- Let me know. I’m always looking for the perfect French Press. (Click Here- Tweet)

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Time Travelling Assassins- Who Would You Target?

You Ever Seen the Movie LOOPER…? I love this film. I have seen it three or four times, and read the screenplay. (Yeah I am dorky like that.)  The entire point of the premise is that Old Joe (Played by Bruce Willis) travels back in time, avoids being killed by his younger self, (Young Joe) and goes on a hunt to find the child that would one day become known as The Rainmaker.

You see- In the future, the Rainmaker is not a very kind person. And as a result, Old Joe’s wife is killed. Old Joe has this thought that if he can find and kill The Rainmaker as a child, maybe his wife won’t die in the future.

Now there are some obvious flaws in his logic and there is much more to the film- But that has me thinking and my wheels spinning.

With the Release of 11/22/63 coming out on Hulu Monday: If YOU could travel back in time and stop a major event in history from happening, or assassinate some evil dictator in history, what / or who would it be…? And why…?

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4 Things I’ve Learned After 11 Years of Working in Marketing

I’ve worked in Marketing for Eleven Years now. I’ve made mistakes- I’ve Fixed others Mistakes- And I’ve learned from Mistakes. However, one secret I know is this-

Marketing is not that hard.

It really isn’t. I think we have a tendency to make it harder than it really is. But the truth is: all you need are a few basic things-

One: A good product

Two: A passion for your product

Three: An ability to overcome the fear and share.

When most people ask me how much they should spend on marketing their books, products, etc. I tell them unless you have the money- You should only spend your time.

Sounds strange. But so many get ahead of themselves. Put your money in the production of the product FIRST. A well-edited book with a great cover will do more for you. If you have money left over, invest what you can in marketing.

Here are four things I’ve learned by being in upper management that anyone can do on any budget.

  1. Find what works for you and stick with it consistently.

Our company specializes in Direct Mail. It’s what most of you would call junk mail. But we have mastered it. Everything from creative design to programming mailing lists, to the production of envelopes, applications, brochures, etc is done in house. We even fold, insert, and sort all our mail down to a specific postal carrier route. We have mastered it by bringing everything in-house. We send out 3.5 Million pieces of mail each week. (YES- You read that right.) We know what works for us and we have a concept:

“How do we get you to open up the envelope without tricking you?”

  1. Your Fans / Clients / and Existing Customers- when satisfied will be your Number 1 point of future sales. (Click to Tweet This)

Here’s something. We market to our existing customers. We spend a lot of time and product development in marketing to the family members of existing customers who have been loyal for years. These products are some of our biggest sales. That’s not just us. Any large successful business does the same thing. Word of mouth is the biggest friend you can have. Find your fans- Build that email list- And hold on tight to them.

  1. Frequency- Frequency- Frequency:

Listen- Only Impulse Buyers buy the first time- 85% of the rest of the market need to see it more than once. Now please understand something. We don’t mail each customer every week. Sometimes it’s simply once a month. However, we hit them more than once. If you are a writer or entrepreneur don’t make every facebook, Tweet, or Instagram post about your book or product. After a while I’m going to be like: “Yeah, I get it.” But don’t ever go silent. Push it and don’t be afraid to push it.

  1. Test your control strategy against a test strategy:

We test everything. We have packages that have worked for years- But that doesn’t mean we stop brainstorming new ideas and concepts. Try one thing one day. The next week at the same time- Try something else. Test your results. Test your reach. Don’t shy away from data- It may not always tell the right story, but it can be eye-opening when it tells the same story consistently.  

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Does Your Life Feel Like a Vapor?

Every year I see countless ads scroll across my news feed challenging people to take control of their life, plan accordingly, say no, set new goals, achieve your dreams in 2016. Now I have no intention of bashing these courses. They are very good. In fact I’ve taken many of them myself. But often times people come to these with a preconceived idea and hope. And when that hope goes unmet they simply give up.

vapor

I use to be this way. Every year I would sit down and list out my goals. But then they would go unmet. Now there are a number of reasons for this. But mostly I was setting big goals and was focused more on what I wanted in my life instead of what God was directing me to do. As a result, I racked up large amounts of debt and was left with disappointment when everything I hoped for was never achieved.

I went to a school I shouldn’t have gone to because everyone said “That’s where you need to go…”

I entered a career in ministry because I thought that’s what I should be doing only to discover it wasn’t where God wanted me…

I could go on and on but what’s the point.

Sometimes God directs us to go places that don’t make sense in the beginning and goes against our finite minds but in the end- They lead us to a promise.

I love the passage in James 4:13-17

“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’- yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will live & do this or that. As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”

I will admit that at first glance, at least from the worlds perspective, this verse comes across a little depressing. To think “I am nothing more than a mist that quickly disappears.”

I mean it goes against everything we ever thought about ourselves, our lives, our plans. It runs against the grain of contemporary culture and tells us our lives are worthless.

But is that honestly what God is saying here…?

For years I ran from what God was leading me to do with my life. I was afraid, overwhelmed, and lacked the confidence to be able to sit and use creativity to bring glory to Him instead of myself. I discovered through my own worthless efforts that I was trying to create on my own- Instead of being Creative with God.

I believe God has a desire for all of Life to become Spiritual Worship. He desires us to enjoy Him and to make Him known. God has blessed us with gifts, and talents. And more often times than not we take those talents and use them for our own personal gain, forgetting to worship and thank the one that created them in us to start with.

Life is short. To quote DR Who: “It all just disappears, doesn’t it? Everything you are, gone in a moment; like breath on a mirror.”

Imagine stopping for a moment this next year and surrendering everything to Him. Bathing everything in prayer. Taking your talents (whatever the may be) and letting His light shine through you during the process of you using them.

Now don’t misunderstand me. I believe God gives us talents so was can succeed in life. I do. Whether we make greats gains financially or not. But I also believe we should use those talents to build a platform to point others toward Him.

So the question is this. What if no one ever saw your talent in action…? What if no tasted your food, tried your recipe, looked at your art, read your devotions or you novel…? What if your sculpture sat in some dusty warehouse with no eye to admire it…? What if only you and God knew the words on the page…? Would it be enough to know it was there, and that you created it with God…?